A satisfying “Sherlock” launches season 3

Sherlock Holmes stalks again in a third season of the hit modern version of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (right) and Martin Freeman (left). (Photo by Robert Viglasky, Hartswood Films for Masterpiece)

No spoilers for the upcoming “Sherlock” season 3 opener on PBS, airing Jan. 19 on RMPBS. Just an assurance that Benedict Cumberbatch is alive and well and in fine form. Eventually he lets viewers in on the mystery of his apparent death at the end of last season.

We’ve known all along that he didn’t actually die; at the end of season 2 we saw loyal Watson (Martin Freeman) mourning at the gravesite marked “Sherlock Holmes,” with the brilliant detective looking on from a distance. Now, the clever trick he used to fake his death is revealed in “The Empty Hearse.”

Again the contemporary spin on the classic Arthur Conan Doyle stories includes funky graphics: computer readouts, mapping and data flows appear onscreen to illustrate the complicated deductions going on in Sherlock’s mind. Purists may find the fancy graphics distracting but creators Steven Moffat (“Doctor Who”) and Mark Gatiss use the high-tech touches sparingly.

This season’s “Sherlock” comes in three parts: “The Empty Hearse,” “The Sign of Three” and “His Last Vow.” A fourth season is planned for “Masterpiece Mystery.”

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.